Michael Klarman

Summary

Michael J. Klarman (born 1959) is an American legal historian and scholar of constitutional law.[1] Currently, Klarman is the Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Harvard Law School.[2] Formerly, he was James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of History, and Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Research Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law.[3]

Michael Klarman
Klarman speaking at Harvard Law Class Day 2010
Born
Michael J. Klarman

1959 (age 64–65)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BA, MA)
Stanford Law School (JD)
University of Oxford (DPhil)
Occupations
  • Legal historian
  • scholar
Parent
RelativesSeth Klarman (brother)
AwardsBancroft Prize (2005)

Early life and education edit

Klarman grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Herbert E. Klarman, was a public health economist.[4] He is the brother of investor Seth Klarman.[5]

Klarman holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, a D.Phil. from Oxford University (where he was a Marshall Scholar) and an M.A. and B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.[6] His dissertation was titled "The Osborne Judgment: A Legal/Historical Analysis".[7] After his graduation from law school, he clerked for then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she was on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[8][9]

Scholarship edit

 
Klarman discusses the U.S. Constitution on its 222nd anniversary

Klarman specializes in the constitutional history of race.[10] He contends that the Supreme Court of the United States has historically been hostile to the rights of minorities and has not consistently enforced constitutional protections for them. Klarman argues that civil rights protections arise out of social mores from which the court takes its cue.[1][4]

Klarman has also defended political process theory as a method of constitutional interpretation.[11]

Awards edit

Works edit

  • Klarman, Michael J. (1994). "How Brown Changed Race Relations: The Backlash Thesis". The Journal of American History. 81 (1): 81–118. doi:10.2307/2080994. JSTOR 2080994. Preview.
  • Discussion between Klarman and Michael W. McConnell regarding Brown v. Board of Education
  • Response to McConnell: Klarman, Michael J. (October 1995). "Response: Brown, originalism, and constitutional theory: a response to Professor Mcconnell". Virginia Law Review. 81 (7): 1881–1936. doi:10.2307/1073643. JSTOR 1073643.
  • Klarman, Michael J. (June 2002). "Is the Supreme Court sometimes irrelevant? Race and the Southern Criminal Justice System in the 1940s". The Journal of American History. 89 (1): 119–153. doi:10.2307/2700787. JSTOR 2700787.
  • Klarman, Michael J. (2004). From Jim Crow to civil rights: the Supreme Court and the struggle for racial equality. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195129038. Preview.
  • Klarman, Michael J. (2007). Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530763-4. Preview.
  • Klarman, Michael J. (2016). Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-994203-9. Preview
  • Klarman, Michael J. (October 14, 2016). The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-994203-9. Preview.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Professor Michael Klarman delivers address on the Supreme Court and race at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences". Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  2. ^ "Login • ProcessWire • oah.org". www.oah.org. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "Michael Klarman | Corcoran Department of History". www.virginia.edu. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008.
  4. ^ a b Klarman, Michael. "A Skeptical View of Constitution Worship". Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  5. ^ "Herbert Klarman, 82, professor, health economist", Baltimore Sun, June 19, 1999.
  6. ^ "WSC | Alumni | News | Message from the Director". www.wsc.edu. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010.
  7. ^ "Thesis: The Osborne judgment : a legal/historical analysis". solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  8. ^ Kevin Zhou (January 24, 2008). "Constitutional Law Professor Klarman Joins HLS". The Harvard Crimson.
  9. ^ "Michael Klarman to join HLS faculty," Harvard Law School press release, January 24, 2008.
  10. ^ Scott, Janny (March 23, 2008). "What Politicians say When They Talk About Race". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  11. ^ Klarman, Michael J. (May 1991). "The Puzzling Resistance to Political Process Theory". Virginia Law Review. 77 (4): 747–832. doi:10.2307/1073297. JSTOR 1073297.

External links edit

  • "Interview with Michael J. Klarman, Winner of the 2005 Bancroft Prize", History News Network, 4-18-05
  • "Book Excerpt: Unfinished Business", Virginia Law Review, February 18, 2008
  • Appearances on C-SPAN